For Love of Him
by Mishee
Summary: A long time ago, a peasant girl and a prince fell in love with each other, never realizing the consequences that their forbidden love would bring. Now, hundreds of years later, will a game of duel monsters determine a new fate for the lovers?


"For Love of Him"  
Written by: Michelle (Ki-chan)  
Based on: "Yu-gi-oh! King of Duelists"  
Summary: A long time ago, a peasant girl and a prince fell in love with each other, never realizing the consequences that their forbidden love would bring. Now, hundreds of years later, will a game of duel monsters determine a new fate for the lovers?  
  
DISCLAIMER I don't own "Yu-gi-oh." This story was inspired by the series, and is a product of my strange and active imagination. I'm not making any money or profit from this, so don't sue me, cuz all you'll get is a broken flashlight and some lint. Permission is needed to use any of my original characters, so please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks. Enjoy.  
  
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Chapter 1 – Dreaming of Murder  
  
He was in a palace, and a beautiful one at that. Exquisite gold statues adorned every corner of the marble room, the ceiling rising at more than a hundred feet above his head. The walls were decorated with various hieroglyphs, colorful and exotic to the eye, an open book of pictures with no pages to turn. He circled around slowly and warily, both frightened and in awe of the majesticness of the place he was in. Mustering up courage, he walked toward one of the walls and gently ran fingertips over the engraved edges of the hieroglyphs. Here was the feather, smooth and cool to the touch. Here, too, on the side, were the curved edges of the symbol that symbolized water. And then…  
  
His fingers stopped over one of the symbols, and puzzlement reflected in his violet eyes. A flower—but not just any flower. It was a flower that lay on the palm of the Egyptian god, Anubis. Somehow, the two images didn't fit. Curiosity overwhelming him, he touched the image—then cried out in surprise as his hand went through the wall. Trying to pull it back and not being able to, he could only close his eyes as an invisible force dragged him through…  
  
Whap! He fell hard on his chest, the force of the impact making him gasp. Supporting himself with his wrists, he slowly lifted himself up and looked around. He was no longer in the palace. In fact, he was outside the palace! With a slight groan, he got to his feet and dusted himself off. A soft petal, faded yellow in hue, fell on his head, and he took it between his fingers, rubbing its surface thoughtfully. Flowers surrounded him, filling the air with a sweet scent. Everywhere he turned, he was met by colorful fauna and lush greenery, and he realized with a jolt that he was in the middle of a huge garden.  
  
There came a sudden stir within the leaves—somebody was coming! Filled with hope, he waited for the stranger to show himself. However, the sound faded, and he realized with despair that the stranger seemed to be walking away from him. In desperation, he followed the sound, hoping to catch the stranger. He soon became out of breath from the exertion. Slowing to a walk, he was just starting to wonder where the stranger had drifted off to when he suddenly heard voices.  
  
Hope filled him once more. He began to walk briskly toward the direction of the noises and soon stopped short of a clearing.  
  
A few meters away stood a woman, dressed in rough Egyptian garter, talking quietly to a man, who seemed to be dressed in long, mysterious looking robes. She was pretty, with long tresses of ebony hair cascading down her back, her skin the color of smooth ivory. She had a small mouth and firm nose, her oval face framed by dark eyes. However, just now, her eyes looked accusing and dangerous. She was arguing loudly with the man in a foreign tongue. The man, tall and middle-aged, looking regal despite his rather suspicious getup, looked narrowly at the girl, talking back to her in a low, controlled tone. He suddenly smiled crookedly and murmured something, all the while, his hands wandering over to touch her intimately.  
  
She recoiled and gave a sharp command. The man's face contorted in anger and he threw a few words back at her before turning to leave. She stood there for a few seconds, looking beaten, anxiously rubbing her fingers. Suddenly, she stopped. Her eyes hardened with determination, and she bent over and retrieved a small, deadly knife from the pocket of her skirt.  
  
Hidden safely behind the foliage, he could only watch in complete horror as she sprinted silently toward the robed man, her raised knife glinting in the sun, eyes mirroring complete intent to kill…  
  
**********  
  
Yugi Mutou gasped and sat straight up in bed. The garden vanished before his eyes and was replaced with the sunny setting of his bedroom. It was morning, which was obvious from the sunlight that streamed cheerfully from his open window. The young boy blinked, and then grasped his bed sheets just to make sure that he was awake. Comforted by the soft texture of the blankets in his hand, he sighed gratefully and rubbed his eyes. Lifting his legs off from the bed to the floor, he hopped down and stretched, hands reaching up to unconsciously straighten our the muss of his light and dark-colored spikes of hair.   
  
There came a gentle rustle from his bedroom door, and Yugi's grandfather poked his head into the room, smiling.  
  
"Breakfast's on the table, Yugi," he informed his grandson, who was bending over to fix his bed.  
  
Yugi looked up and returned a smile. "I'll be right down."  
  
Yugi's grandfather nodded and left. Covering his bed with a comforter, the young duelist then strode to his closet where he rummaged around for his uniform. It took him only a few minutes to dress and slip on a pair of sneakers. As he stood in front of the dresser mirror combing his hair, his eyes fell on the reflection of the charm around his neck. Smiling, he dropped his comb on the dresser and cupped the gold charm.  
  
"Good morning, Yami."  
  
From inside his mind, Yugi felt the dark spirit stir.  
[Good morning, as well, aibou.] There was pause. [I suppose you are going to 'school' again.]  
  
"Of course," Yugi retorted, abandoning the dresser to sling his backpack over his shoulder. Somehow, he was always amused by the way Yami referred to his 'school.' "Don't I always?"  
  
Yami was silent, as he always was, but Yugi could feel him smiling faintly from within. With one last glance at the mirror, his bag over one shoulder, he walked out of his room and toward the kitchen. He poured himself a half cup of orange juice, all the while sniffing the air as the delicious smell of sizzling pancakes wafted throughout the room.  
  
"Running a little late, Yugi?" The older man's back was toward his grandson as he busily flipped some pancakes over a pan. Yugi shuddered slightly from the question, faintly recalling the image of the woman's knife, and then quickly banishing it from his memory. He wasn't going to let a silly nightmare ruin his day.  
  
"Yeah. I guess I was tired."  
  
Yugi's grandfather gave an understanding nod and turned around, two steaming plates of stacked pancakes held in either hand.  
  
"I hope you're not sleeping late. You know how bad it is for you."  
  
The young boy, his mouth filled with pancakes, could only nod. Washing it down with a gulp of orange juice, Yugi finished the rest of the pancakes in a few minutes while his grandfather drank coffee. He had already eaten.  
  
"Thanks for the breakfast, grandpa." Yugi hopped down from the chair, rushing over to the sink to rinse his plate quickly. "Sorry I can't stay longer--I told Joey I'd meet him this morning and we'd walk to school together."  
  
"Joey?" His grandfather raised an eyebrow. "That boy can never wake up on time, even if you blast a bullhorn in his ears."  
  
"There's always a possibility that he might one day," Yugi grinned. The older man grunted, obviously doubting that he would.  
  
"Well, have a good day at school, Yugi. I'll be in the store until seven tonight, if you want to drop by."  
  
"All right, Grandpa." Yugi was already almost out the door. "Bye!"  
  
[Be careful.] Yami's usual warning rang through Yugi's thoughts just as he was closing the front door. The pharaoh always remembered to tell his ihikari/i to be careful whenever he left for school--it was very comforting, and also very sweet. Yugi smiled at the dark spirit's concern for him, and remarked with his usual reply.  
  
"I will."  
  
  
  
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A/N: whoo. sorry that I had to delete the first chapter and replace it with a new one. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so i keep finding little errors here and there, and then correcting them and re-uploading them here. heh. Um...I'm a very busy gal--in other words, I'm a college student (taking Pre-med, if you must know). So, I might not always have time to update periodically, but I'll try my best to. I really will, promise. This story has been long coming, and it's been planned and mapped out since forever. Today just seemed to be the day to put it all finally on paper. :) Hm, so...I welcome reviews. I welcome flames and criticism. Thanks for reading, you guys! 


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